Introduction | Table of Contents | Chapter 14

The Greeks used the word, for instance, of the dyeing of a garment, in which the whole material was plunged in and taken out from the element used, or, again, of a boat which had been wrecked by being submerged and then stranded on the shore. To substitute the words "immerse," "immersion," for "baptize" and "baptism" is a mistake, for immersion is only part of the process, and a person merely immersed would not remain alive. We need, therefore, the transliterated words, for which no adequate English equivalent existed.

It is necessary, moreover, to understand them in their Scriptural significance and not as.they have been interpreted by ecclesiastical tradition. The mode and meaning of baptism is clear from the Scriptures relating to the ordinance. These speak of death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3, 4; Col. 2:12). Thus, figuratively, the people of Israel were "baptizedin the cloud and in the sea" (I Cor. 10:2).

The Commandment

The ordinance was instituted by the Lord in the following command: "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (or age)" (Matt. 28:19, 20). The order is significant. The fulfillment of the command on the part of the Apostles, as recorded in the Acts, makes clear that baptism was to be preceded by repentance and faith, essential preliminaries to discipleship. To translate this passage by inserting the word "by" before "baptizing," thus making the passage mean that baptism was to be the means of making disciples, is to force a doctrine into the command which is contradicted by other Scriptures, and to read a meaning into it which it was never intended to convey. On the Day of Pentecost those who were baptized were those who received the Apostle's word (Acts 2:41). Again, when Philip preached in Samaria, those who believed were baptized (Acts 8:12). The subsequent narrative in that chapter, about the eunuch, shows that he was baptized only after the exercise of faith. So with the jailer at Philippi and the members of his house (Acts 16:32, 33); the record leaves no room for doubt that all those who were baptized were believers. For when the word of the Lord had been spoken to all in the house, all the household both believed and rejoiced greatly, statements entirely inapplicable to those who were in infancy. Again, at Corinth, "many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized" (Acts 18:8).

These and other Scriptures not only show that baptism is for believers only, but make clear that the Apostle's words at Pentecost, "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins," are not to be taken to indicate that the remission of sins is obtained by baptism. The remission of sins is granted on the ground of faith. The same Apostle declares that everyone that believeth on Christ shall receive remission of sins (Acts 10:43). So, too, in the message of the Apostle Paul at Antioch: "through this Man is proclaimed unto you the remission of sins: and by Him every one that believeth is justified" (Acts 13:38, 39).³⁰

³⁰The case of Saul of Tarsus is confirmatory. Acts 9 records first his conversion and then his baptism (verse 18). In his own narrative of this, recorded in chapter 22, the command of Ananias, "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins," by no means implies that God had not remitted his sins already at his conversion, nor does it afford ground for the doctrine that Divine remission of sins is granted on the ground of baptism. Saul, who had judged Christ to be an impostor, had actually accepted Him as Lord, and was now to give acknowledgment of this in his baptism, thus publicly testifying to his fellow nationals his changed attitude, and symbolically washing away by his own act the sins of his former rejection of, and antagonism to, Christ. In no case is such language used of a Gentile; for a Jew thus to testify to Jews would have a special significance in relation to ceremonial washing.

Binding Upon All Believers

Further, while none but those who professed faith in Christ were baptized, no believer remained unbaptized. An unbaptized believer is not contemplated in the New Testament. It could not be otherwise in view of the Lord's command. When the Apostle Paul says, concerning the saints in Corinth, "I thank God that I baptized none of you save Crispus and Gaius," the context gives proof that he was not in any way minimizing the value of baptism, or setting little value on it. He immediately states as his reason, "lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name" (I Cor. 1:15). That there was no unbaptized believer in the church at Corinth is clear from his preceding question, "Were ye baptized into the name of Paul?" He does not say, "Were those of you who were baptized, baptized into the name of Paul?" as if distinguishing the baptized from the unbaptized. Again, when he says, "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel," he simply means that he did not himself administer the rite in all cases, but that, while he baptized a few, the carrying out of the ordinance by his own hand was not his special work. All those who were not baptized by him were baptized by others, as Acts 18:8 shows.

The Great Error

That a person should be regarded as having become regenerate through having been baptized cannot be rightly deduced from the Lord's words in John 3:5, "Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The Lord immediately says, in confirmation of this statement, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The Apostle Peter testifies that we have been "begotten againthrough the Word of God, which liveth and abideth" (I Pet. 1:23, R.V.; Cp. James 1:18). It is therefore consistent to understand the water as symbolizing the Word of God. [31] [31] Water is also a symbol of the Holy Spirit (see the Lord's words to the woman of Samaria, John 4:14, and again to the Jews, 7:38, 39). In that case the kai, "and," is epexegetic and signifies "even." As against this the objection is raised that a word used symbolically is not coupled with that which denotes what is symbolized. The objection, however, is invalid; for instance, "soul and spirit" (actual) "and joints and marrow" (symbolic) are thus associated in Hebrews 4:12. On the other hand, the Spirit, the water and the blood are distinguished in I John 5:8.

There is no intimation in the New Testament that baptism as the means of regeneration was ever taught in the churches. The testimony, as we have seen, is to the contrary. The error arose in a later period, through departure from apostolic teaching, and by the introduction of rites and practices adopted from oriental religions. After the early persecutions of immediately post-apostolic times, measures were taken to incorporate people into the churches in a wholesale manner, in order that the Christian religion might outrival its competitors. The mode of baptism by the sprinkling of water was thus adopted, contrary to the teaching of Holy Scripture, and the doctrine was promulgated that salvation was secured by the rite, and that unbaptized persons must perish. In this and other respects the Christian faith, as taught by Christ and His Apostles, became generally replaced in Christendom by an admixture of paganism with the faith, with disastrous results.

The Cause of the Error

That salvation could be obtained by a mere outward form or ceremony, appealed to pagan ideas, and would ever prove attractive to the natural mind. Moreover, the perversion of the ordinance was contingent upon the substitution of priestcraft for those forms of spiritual ministry set forth in the New Testament, the teaching of which is directly opposed to a system of clerisy. The ordinance of baptism, with its profound significance for the believer, became changed into a rite which was practised for the maintenance of priestcraft, and fostered superstition.

Baptism is a testimony on the part of a believer that he has, through faith in Christ, become identified with Him in His death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5). It is an acknowledgment that Christ is his Lord, that he belongs to Him as such, and that, having formerly served sin, he reckons himself as having died to it and as being alive unto God in Christ Jesus (verse 11).

To take the words of the Apostle Peter (in I Pet. 3:21), that baptism "saves us," as signifying that baptism is the means of regeneration, is to miss the meaning of the passage completely. For he declares at once that baptism is "not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the appeal (R.V. margin) of a good conscience towards God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Baptism provides the believer with an appeal against everything contrary to his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. The very significance of the ordinance, to which he voluntarily submits himself, in the fulfillment of the will of the Lord is an appeal against yielding to sin. Thus the believer is thereby saved, not from the doom of his sins, but from an evil conscience through having by thought, word or deed contravened the meaning of the ordinance. The passage just referred to is likewise a testimony to the Scriptural mode of baptism; for it speaks of the ordinance as "a corresponding figure" (lit., "a corresponding type") to the similarly typical representation set forth by the ark and those who were brought therein through the flood in a figurative burial and resurrection.

Baptism bears no relation to the Jewish rite of circumcision, nor has baptism taken the place of circumcision. Jews, who, as such, had been circumcised on the eighth day, were baptized after they had believed on Christ; and, vice versa, Timothy, who had become a disciple and therefore had been baptized, was circumcised by the Apostle Paul just before going forth with him in missionary service. If there is any analogy, then, as Jews were circumcised because they were children of Abraham, so believers are baptized because they are children of God.

In connection with the significance of baptism, the twenty-ninth verse of 1 Corinthians 15 has been usually understood to refer to a certain ceremony which took place on the occasion of the burial of a believer. In view, however, of the absence of any other intimation in Scripture regarding such a ceremony, and the absence of any historical evidence thereof in apostolic times, or those which immediately followed, another meaning must be sought. Bearing in mind that the original was written without punctuation marks, let the first question mark in the verse be placed after the word "baptized," and the verse gives a meaning at once consistent with the doctrine of Scripture. The reading will thus be: "Else what shall they do which are baptized? It is for (i.e., 'in the interests of') the dead, if the dead are not raised at all. Why then are they baptized for them?" The first question, "What shall they do ... T' is a way of asking what is the use or value of being baptized. The insertion of the words "It is," to provide the answer, is consistent with the fact that the verb "to be" is frequently omitted in the original, as is shown by the italicized words in several places in this very chapter. If there is no resurrection of the dead, the ordinance, instead of setting forth the identification of believers with the risen Christ, has no meaning at all either for Him or for them; for all perish at death: see verse 18. Both His command and their witness in the ordinance are null and void. They testify to doctrines that have no significance. Their baptism is therefore in the interests of dead ones."³²

³²The next question follows appropriately, "Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour." If there is no resurrection, why lead a life which involves "dying daily?"

Ecclesiasticism, so far from developing the truth relating to baptism, has perverted the ordinance both in its mode and its meaning.

Introduction | Table of Contents | Chapter 14

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